The Impact of Industrial Clusters on Carbon Emission Intensity—Evidence from Chinese Counties

County-level carbon emissions are essential for accomplishing China’s goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and researching the relationship between industrial cluster and county-level carbon emission intensity bears great significance for realizing sustainable development. Using a sample of 957 Chinese counties from 2002 to 2022, this paper examines the impacts of industrial cluster on county-level carbon emission intensity. Methodologically, the two-way fixed effects panel model and mediation effect model are adopted to empirically test such impacts. The main findings are as follows. First, industrial cluster exerts a negative effect on county-level carbon emission intensity. Second, heterogeneous impacts of industrial cluster on county-level carbon emission intensity exist across eastern, central and western regions; such impacts also differ between resource-based and non-resource-based regions, as well as between central and non-central regions. Third, technological innovation plays a partial mediating role between industrial cluster and county-level carbon emission intensity. Fourth, the relationship between industrial clusters and county-level carbon emission intensity exhibits significant spatial dependence, which reflects indirect spatial spillover effects across neighboring counties. The conclusions of this paper supply new empirical evidence for county-level carbon reduction in China from the industrial cluster perspective and carry implications for the formulation of industrial development policies.